Door latch



June 16, 1925.

I B. E. MORIARTY DOOR LATCH Fi1ed. May 5, 1924 INVENTOR ,B. E. filorz'aATTORNEYS Patented June 16, 1925.

BENEDICT E. markers, on Howann; sourn nAKo'TA,

To an atom; "it my camera.

1% itknowmthatq, *Biiiiiinio'r E. Moti AR'I'Y, a citizen or the UnitedStates, anda resident of Howard, in the county of Miner Sthte ofSou-thDakota, liave invented certain new and useful fifmprovements "inDoor 1 Latches, of which the +lt11owisg is a Specification r V p 1 Mypresent invention relates generally to door latches and moreparticularlyft o a simple effective latcli for-"barn dodrs, anyonjectbeing theiprovision of a latch 'inch iding a pivoted bar and a mvitykeeperysoton structed and related that the keeper may,

- by duplication, be i utilized to engage the latch bar in both the openand closed positions of the door, so as to support the door in suchpositions.

My invention aims to make it necessary to construct but a single type ofkeeper and in this Way avoid unnecessary complication and expense.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my present invention andforming a part of this specification Figure 1 is a front'view showingthe practical application of the invention, the door being latched inclosed position.

Figure 2 is a sectional top plan view, the door being shown in closedposition in full lines and in open position in dotted lines.

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view 01" the keeper and its supportingbracket, and

Figure 4 is a detail vertical section taken on line 41-4 of Figure 1.

Referring now to these figures, the latch proposed by my inventionincludes a latch bar generally indicated at 10, adapted to be pivoted atone end in connection with a door such as for instance a door 11, byvirtue of its connection upon a stem 12 and the clamping thereof bymeans of a nut 13 upon the reduced threaded outer end 14 of said stem.The stem has bearing through the sleeve portion 15 of a bearing plate 16attached to the outer surface of the door 11, the sleeve portion ofwhich bearing plate extends through an opening in the door. At its innerend, beyond the inner end of the bear ing sleeve 15,- the stem 12 may beintegral with an angular inner handle 17.

The latch bar 10 has an intermediate handle portion 18 and a flat keeperengaging extension 19 at its free end beyond the handle portion 18, thisextension being'vertically Litres;

1924. sbriaiimiitisr.

*Thelteeper 22 is in the nature of a sir-b stantially triahgulzirmemberpivotally connested "at its smaller md within-a bracket intermediate theeilusor' the tetra and is provided with an arcuate slot 25 through whicha limiting stud 26 projects from the bracket arm 24 so that the keeperis thus permitted limited swinging movement beyond the opposite edges ofthe bracket arm 24, thus permitting the keeper and its supportingbracket to be mounted at relatively opposite sides of the door in theposition shown in Figures 1 and 2 in order to be effectively engaged bythe latch arm when the door is in fully open and closed positions. Thelatch arm extension 19 moves beneath the keeper bracket 23 when the dooris closed as in Figure 1 and in full lines in Figure 2 while the handleportion 18 of the latch bar moves beneath the other keeper bracket 23 inthe open position of the door as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2,and it is thus obvious that when the door is either opened or closed therespective portions of the latch member press the keepers 22 upwardlyuntil they have shifted inwardly past the keepers when the latter arefree to drop by gravity and thus securely hold the door until the latchbar is swung downwardly either by depressing its outer handle 18 or itsinner handle 17, sufficient to shift the latch bar below the keeper.

It is obvious from the foregoing the same keeper may be utilized atopposite sides of the swinging door, one keeper to hold the door inclosed position and the other keeper to hold the door in open position,both keepers cooperating with the latch bar in substantially the samemanner in their efi'ective positions It is thus obvious that but onetype of keeper suifices to engage the latch bar for holding the door inboth the open and closed positions and that my improved construction,arrangement and cooperation of parts not only brings about thisadvantage in economy, but also permits of easy manipulation of the latchbar to release the same from the keeper in either position of the doorand also permits the door to be readily released from both the inner andouter sides thereof when in closed position.

My invention presents a simple, economical door latch singularly free ofdelicate parts likely to get out of order which may be easily appliedand readily maintained in properly operating condition.

I claim:

1. In a swinging door, a stem journaled through the door, having ahandle at its inner end, a latch bar secured at one end upon the outerend of said stem, keeper brackets at opposite sides of the door and ofsimilar construction, gravity keepers swingable in said brackets andsimilarly cooperating with the latch bar to hold the door in open andclosed positions, and a spring engaging the latch bar and controllingmovement thereof and also controlling movement of the stem and the innerhandle.

2. A latch bar pivotally mounted at one end to swing in a verticalplane, a spring engaging the latch bar to shift the same in It onedirection, a guide bracket in which the latch bar is shiftable havingmeans to limit movement of the latch bar under actuation of the spring,a gravity keeper, and a bracket in which the keeper is mounted having anoutstanding arm to which the keeper is pivoted for swinging movementbeyond opposite edges of the bracket arm.

3. A pivoted vertically swingable and spring controlled latch bar, agravity keeper,

BENEDICT E. MORIARTY.

